


Solved By Walking

by Daegaer



Category: Weiß Kreuz
Genre: Assassins, Family, Forests, Hiking, M/M, Psychic Abilities
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-11-28
Updated: 2008-11-28
Packaged: 2017-10-23 04:03:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/246097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daegaer/pseuds/Daegaer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mamoru finds himself in the wilderness with Nagi.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Solved By Walking

**Author's Note:**

> _It is solved by walking._
> 
> \--Latin proverb

Grandfather was unimpressed with the knowledge of life a florist might have, even a florist raised as an assassin. He took one look at Mamoru and consigned him to the hands of stylists, tailors, elocution and deportment teachers and political analysts. After two months he proclaimed himself disappointed his grandson was such a slow learner. After three, he sighed and said it was pleasing to an old man to see that at least his last remaining grandchild was _trying_. After four, Mamoru began to dream of pressing a pillow down over his face. After five months, Grandfather smiled, and began letting Mamoru be seen in public.

It was wearing, being bowed down under the weight of Grandfather's generosity. Mamoru stared silently out the window of the impressively large black Mercedes he could use whenever he wanted, filtering out the sound of Rex's voice. There was nothing, he thought, nothing to tie him to what he'd been. Tsukiyoni Omi had been polished away till only Takatori Mamoru was left. Even his tastes in music had changed – at least, he didn't feel right playing anything but classical music, be it Japanese or European, in the spare and tasteful rooms of Grandfather's house. Rex was saying something about people whom he would have to send his erstwhile friends to kill. Mamoru stared out the window and thought hard about the time Yohji had put on the loudest, most sugary music he could find, and they'd all danced round the shop to the delight of the schoolgirls. Even Aya – Mamoru's thoughts ran down to perfect, astonished silence as the car stopped at an intersection. Out of all the crowd waiting to cross, his eyes met one pair. He leant forward, one hand against the bullet-proof glass, as Nagi's eyes widened in recognition. A stream of people strode in front of the car; Nagi never moved, the crowd dividing and moving around him. Mamoru thought of his outstretched hand, the force that had picked him up and flung him back while Nagi's face had remained as expressionless as it now was. As the lights changed, Nagi turned on his heel and walked away.

"Shit," Mamoru breathed, forgetting for a moment he wasn't someone who picked up bad language from Ken and Yohji any more.

" . . . Mamoru-sama?" Rex said.

"Nothing," he said, and made himself face her and smile. "Please, go on, Rex."

 

* * *

 

After six months, Grandfather gave him a present.

"This could be a real asset, boy," he said. "Use it wisely, and not too publicly."

Mamoru picked up the file photo and looked at the expressionless, blue eyes, the fall of dark-brown hair, the narrow, dissatisfied mouth. "You've got to be kidding me," he said.

Grandfather sipped his tea and said nothing until Mamoru realized he should remember that polite people didn't sound like gangsters on television. Mamoru sometimes felt like saying he'd met gangsters, and mere informal speech didn't make him one of them. Now, however, he simply kept a mild expression on his face and said,

"Are you sure this is wise, Grandfather?"

"I assure you, our investigations have been thorough. This Naoe boy has no associates left in Tokyo and is looking to attach himself to a powerful ally. He served my son well enough, he can serve you the same."

It was unfilial to be glad Reiji was dead, as it was to hope Shuuichi had been his father. Mamoru kept both thoughts firmly unspoken.

"He didn't serve my father well enough to keep him alive. And he tried to kill me."

"Now he works for you. Speak with him, Mamoru. Use him."

And that, it seemed was that. Mamoru nodded, Grandfather smiled his thin, supercilious smile, and the world continued.

The next morning he sat behind his wide and empty desk, and looked at Nagi carefully, searching out signs of hatred. All he got back was a calm, dispassionate look.

"My grandfather says you approached him directly," Mamoru said. "How did you know how to do that?"

"I worked for your father," Nagi said. "I have a good memory for phone numbers."

" _Why_ would you do that?"

"I found the thought of a regular income strangely appealing," Nagi said, with what might almost have been humour in his voice. "In the real world people have to pay for groceries, you know."

 _The real world?_ Mamoru thought. _Sarcastic little shit_. "You let my father get killed," he said.

Nagi shrugged. "He sacked us. And have you forgotten who killed him?"

Mamoru looked down at the file, concentrating on not snapping his pen between his fingers. "Where are the rest of Schwarz?" he said.

"Europe. I already answered all these questions. They're right there, in that file you aren't really reading."

Mamoru closed the file and looked up angrily. "I don't want you and can't trust you," he said.

"I'm a mercenary," Nagi said. "Pay me enough and you can trust me. As for not wanting me –" His face took on a sly cast. "Your grandfather already has me on the payroll. The only question is, do I report back to him or you? You pay me what I want on top of his price, and he only gets reports on you that you've approved." The smile made him look older and wiser in some way Mamoru didn't like. "Come on, Mamoru, your grandfather's people have had me locked up the last month while they ran tests, interrogated me and did their best to find out what I've been up to since last we met. Do you really think I'd have let that happen if I didn't want to get some benefit from it?"

"Maybe you want to kill me."

"You're alive right now. I could have snapped your neck a thousand times over – I prefer you alive and giving me money."

Well, Mamoru thought, Grandfather would hardly let Nagi near him if he _did_ have murder in mind. And if it was _Grandfather_ who had murder in mind, it would be very useful to have someone like Nagi around. He had plenty of money to keep a mercenary honest.

He held out his hand gingerly. Nagi's grasp was surprisingly light and warm.

 

* * *

 

It wasn't much, at first. Some surveillance here, a covert assassination there, until Mamoru was at least convinced Nagi didn't want to kill _him_ too quickly. He read the reports with satisfaction; Nagi was as good as his word, and ran his reports past Mamoru's desk before sending them on to Grandfather. He advised Mamoru what things should be hidden, what things should be left in plain sight.

"I'm not actually working against my grandfather," Mamoru said, sarcastically.

"You still need to have secrets for him to discover. He doesn't trust a man with no secrets. I'd suggest a mistress, for starters."

Mamoru stared at him in astonishment. "I don't want a mistress," he said at last.

"He'll wonder if there's something wrong with you. You work all the time, and never go off the rails even a little. That looks suspicious. Pick a deserving girl and pay her rent and living expenses, at least. I'll find someone discreet."

Mamoru considered it. Then, "It'd better not be someone like Tot," he said.

Nagi's eyes looked darkly amused. "Noted."

The girl Nagi picked was a poor nursing student, humbly grateful to be the sudden recipient of Takatori generosity. The flat Nagi picked was convenient to her university, and Mamoru took a near-by route home every night.

"Remember, Ueno-san, Takatori-san will be very happy if this opportunity allows you more time to volunteer for charity work," Nagi said, sounding sincere and normal. "Perhaps after graduation you might work in the developing world for a time? Takatori-san would consider continuing support for that."

She bowed, overcome and scarlet-faced. Mamoru tried to signal to Nagi over her head that he should feel free to stop spending Mamoru's money any time he pleased. Nagi outright smiled. It wasn't a pleasant sight.

"Takatori-san is very devoted to the welfare of those he helps," he went on. "He may visit you some evenings to see how you are doing. Of course, he is a very private person, you understand . . ."

Ueno-san, it seemed, understood perfectly well, and was not keen on losing her flat and sudden scholarship. Mamoru never saw any hint she spoke about his awkward weekly visits, which was more than Nagi did.

"Getting a return on your investment?" Nagi said dryly after the fifth such visit, as Mamoru slipped into the car, his face flushed and his clothing crumpled.

"That wasn't supposed to happen," Mamoru said, appalled. He tried not to think of what he'd just done, keeping quiet all the way home. He went into his bathroom and scrubbed as much of the scent of her perfume from him as he could. When had she even started wearing perfume for his visits? Nagi looked smug, as if he'd planned this all along.

"Now it's a _proper_ secret for me to report to your grandfather," he said. "Cheer up, Mamoru, you held out for longer than I thought. Think of it as stress relief." He paused. "I am assuming you didn't kill her?" he said, like it was a real possibility.

Mamoru gaped at him. "I _fucked_ a _dependent_ , isn't that enough?" he snapped. "I got laid because of her sense of gratitude! It's demeaning! . . . are you _laughing?_ "

"Was it your first time? Because that would be really funny. Don't worry, I'll make sure you see the report first," Nagi said, and there was definite laughter in his voice. "Cheer up," he said. "If having sex with someone who wants to have sex with you is the worst thing you ever do, then you'll be a very lucky man."

 _Bastard_ , Mamoru thought. He didn't trust him at _all_.

 

* * *

 

"Take a holiday, Mamoru," Grandfather said with finality. "In the current economic climate it does good to show that people want to holiday within the country."

Mamoru nodded. Grandfather, it seemed, wanted to wean him off his "unsuitable attachment." The lecture about how naïve young men could fall for the wrong type of girl had been humiliating, and, annoyingly, Grandfather's solution seemed to show Nagi had been right about him _wanting_ to find out Mamoru had a silly little secret. An initial break to give Mamoru's presumed girl-addled mind a rest, and then more responsibilities to keep him busy thereafter. Responsibilities, Mamoru thought in irritation, that he might have waited another year to get, if he'd not gone along with Nagi's scheme. He forced himself into a more optimistic state of mind; a holiday would be good for him, even if he would have preferred a different destination. So much for hoping to see Disney World, he thought. Instead, he would have healthy exercise, and educational opportunities for hands-on geography lessons. Great. Goodbye, American junk food, he thought wistfully. Ken had loved the stuff – still, Mamoru thought, he no longer had as active a life as before. A hiking tour, eating traditional food, might be what he needed. He examined the brochures with dutiful interest.

"Take some discreet security with you," Grandfather said.

"Naoe Nagi?" Mamoru said, assuming Grandfather would expect reports of his enthusiasm for hiking.

"Naoe Nagi," Grandfather assented.

At least he wouldn't suffer alone. Mamoru smiled, imaging the reaction.

He wasn't disappointed.

"Paris is cultural. New York is cultural. Climbing up a mountain is not cultural." Nagi looked as sulky as Mamoru remembered from their brief encounters as younger teenagers.

"We take a cable car up the mountain," Mamoru said with cheerful malice. "Then we merely walk for the next week or so. We do get to stop at traditional ryokans and onsens, though."

"I prefer Western-style accommodation," Nagi said.

"We're already booked. You're a final year high-school student who wants to enter journalism. You're writing a travel piece for a young people's magazine."

" _God_ ," Nagi muttered in English, closing his eyes. "All right, fine. I suppose you are aware that neither of us has climbed a mountain for some time? Maybe your grandfather wants us both to have heart attacks."

"I've never climbed a mountain," Mamoru said, feeling more cheerful with each moment Nagi's disgust grew.

"I have. It's less fun than you'd think. Ski-ing sucks, too."

"No ski-ing," Mamoru said. "It's the wrong time of year. Just hiking and hot springs."

"You actively relish the thought of my misery," Nagi said. "A miserable bodyguard is a less attentive bodyguard."

"Is that what you are?" Mamoru said. "I thought your role was more nebulous." He felt a sort of mean victory at Nagi's irritated expression.

"What are you trying to punish me for?" Nagi said. "Trusting you enough to work for you? Oh, forget it. I'll go and pack."

Too late, Mamoru wondered if a week with an irritated, miserable Nagi might be punishment for him instead, for the very sin Nagi had suggested. _I mustn't trust him_ , he thought. _I shouldn't trust anyone._

 

* * *

 

Hokkaido, Mamoru decided, was interesting. _Anywhere_ was more interesting than staying at home and being reminded that he still managed to fail Grandfather's hopes and expectations. He flexed his toes inside the hiking boots, hoping his luck would hold. He had worn them every day for two weeks to make sure they were broken in enough to save him from blisters, but after four days walking he knew it was just a matter of time. The rucksack had already given him a blister on his right shoulder. He looked out of the cablecar window at the trees below, dark and thick. The snow was long gone, but he'd taken advice and was wearing warm clothing. Up ahead above the treeline, he could see the top station for the cablecar, and felt their journey slow as they came closer. Outside the breeze was brisker than he'd thought possible for such a sunny day, and he hurried to put on gloves.

Nagi, grimly maintaining some sort of fiction that he was writing about the tour, muttered into a recorder. Mamoru caught something about the height of Mount Kurodake and the distance the cablecar had carried them. He turned away, deciding from Nagi's expression that it was better not to attract his attention.

"This way, please!" the tour guide called. "From here we will take the trail towards Sounkyo, where at day's end we will take the chairlift down from the upper trail. In winter that lift carries skiers up to the snow slopes, but I'm afraid we are either too late or too early to discover if the piste is to our liking."

Mamoru and the others dutifully laughed. Nagi rolled his eyes and stuffed the recorder into his pocket. Suddenly not dour at all, he practically skipped to Mamoru's side. "Mind if I walk with you?" he said in such ridiculously cheerful tones that Mamoru felt himself redden, embarrassed by Nagi's sudden lack of professionalism.

"Um, sure," he said. "Why not?" He blinked in astonishment as Nagi grinned like a sugar-high child. "What was that all about?" he said quietly as they headed along the trail.

"I'm modeling myself on Tsukyoni Omi," Nagi said with satisfied malice.

"I never spoke like that! Or skipped."

"That's not what video footage suggests. Shit. Look at all this damn – nature." Nagi frowned at the trees, as if they had offended him deeply. He fell silent as they climbed steadily up the mountain the wind was stronger than before, and Mamoru turned up the collar of his jacket.

"Well, here we are," Nagi said as they all stopped for a breather. "A lovely day of looking at Alpine flora to set us up for dinner. And I won't like it any more than when I was in school in the Alps." He stepped away, his recorder in his hand before Mamoru could do more than register the tiny nugget of information.

"The trail leads us up the summit, where we will stop to eat our packed lunches," the guide said cheerfully. "Let's go!"

Mamoru looked ahead and up at the trail's switchbacks, and wondered if he would have any energy to eat anything when they got to the top. Then he smiled a sunny Omi-smile at Nagi to annoy him, and started walking, doing his best to keep to the guide's steady pace. The scenery was astounding, he thought, breathing hard. If he looked behind he could see almost all the way down to the onsen from which they'd set out, and all around him was the carefully preserved wilderness of the national park. It was a welcome and peaceful change from Tokyo. Behind him, Nagi strode up the trail, breathing easily for all his protests about the health hazards of climbing mountains. Not that he should really call it climbing, Mamoru thought. He stopped to catch his breath under the guise of taking a picture. He was sure this would have been hard work even when he'd been more active.

They were starting their descent from the summit in the afternoon when he heard engines. The first sight of the helicopter coming in fast merely made him stop, looking at it in puzzlement. Then the door opened, and he caught the glint of sunlight on a rifle's scope. The first bullet hit the trail a half-metre from his foot, sending up little chips of stone. The next hit where he'd been. Nagi scrambled back to his feet, leaving Mamoru to cautiously raise his head and hope nothing had been sprained when Nagi tackled him.

"Stay _down!_ " Nagi yelled as the helicopter came round again. The wind whipped up into fury around him, and Mamoru thought he almost saw the force hit the helicopter. The sniper's shots went wide again, and the pilot banked round. The other hikers were screaming, flinging themselves down or running up the trail in panic. The sniper's rifle withdrew, and Mamoru felt himself relax for a moment before he saw it had been replaced by a grenade-launcher. He didn't waste time in thought, just got his feet under him and ran down the trail, desperate to put as much space as possible between him and the other hikers.

"God _dammit!_ " he heard Nagi shout in English behind him. "Are you fucking _stupid?_ " Then he heard fast footsteps, and felt himself bowled over again.

The noise of the explosion rocked him; when he peered out from beneath Nagi he saw how close it had come, the edge of the damage caused stopping neatly in a straight line not more than twenty centimeters from them. "Come _on_ ," Nagi said, leaping up. He grabbed Mamoru's arm and pulled him away from the trail, running dangerously fast down the mountainside, another explosion sending up stones and earth to one side.

They were heading for a drop the guide had pointed out earlier as the "fast way down", Mamoru realized. The trail skirted well clear, but Nagi's path was leading them straight towards it. He got a good look at it as they drew nearer, dark trees beneath, untouched by the sunlight that glinted from the bullet-chipped rocks around them. The air was damper below, with swirls of mist beginning to spread above the trees. The helicopter came round a final time, the sniper close enough to see clearly and then, thrown off balance by his own rucksack and by Mamoru's weight dragging at him, Nagi's foot slipped and he fell into emptiness, pulling Mamoru with him.

The shock made Mamoru scream. He had a moment to wonder at that, to think that his friends would have died in a more dignified silence, and to feel more shame as he lost control of his bladder. Then, as he and Nagi fell out of the sunlight he felt himself suddenly pulled tight against Nagi and their descent slowed immensely. It was still fast enough to hurt, he found, as they crashed through the top layer of branches but then it slowed to a calm drift, and they landed without further harm beneath the trees, shielded from view.

"Let's hope that looked convincing," Nagi said. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Mamoru said, or tried to. He settled for nodding.

"OK, come on then, we can't stay here."

Mamoru found he could walk, and that after a few steps he didn't need to lean on Nagi for support.

"They tried to kill me," he said numbly.

"Yeah," Nagi said. "That's why you need to walk a little faster, in case they come looking for our bodies."

"Who _were_ they?" Mamoru took a breath and made himself ask the next question. "Do you think my grandfather sent them?"

Nagi gave the question more consideration than he liked. "No," he said at last. "I'm pretty sure I know the shooter and he's not someone your grandfather would employ."

"Would you have a problem in going after him, or giving Kritiker information about him?" Mamoru asked cautiously.

"He tried to kill me too," Nagi said. "I'm not feeling overly friendly towards him." He stalked off, his face thunderous.

Mamoru matched his pace, heading apparently at random between the tall, dark trees. "Do you know how to get down from here?" he said.

Nagi flicked him a glance and kept walking. After another few minutes he shrugged.

"No. We're totally lost. I'm just getting us out of the immediate area."

Mamoru sighed. They were both alive, he told himself. He was going to count that as a victory.

 

* * *

 

"Put that away," Nagi snapped, twitching Mamoru's phone from his hand with a tiny gesture. The phone spun into his grasp. "Huh," he said. "No signal. Even if there were, we don't want to be found yet. They could be waiting for us to call for help."

"Who are they?"

"We'll find out eventually," Nagi said. "Let's just stay alive till then."

Mamoru leant against a tree trunk, exhausted and knowing his luck with his boots had run out at last. He could feel the blisters. "We don't even know if we're walking in circles. It's meant to happen a lot in woods, if you're not experienced."

"I've got a good sense of direction," Nagi said. "We're not going in circles. You know we're not going to reach Sounkyo tonight, don't you?"

"Yeah," Mamoru sighed. "What'll we do?"

"I'm looking for something to shelter us," Nagi said vaguely.

"You said you're not into mountains and nature," Mamoru muttered. "What do you think you'll find?"

Nagi ignored him and walked on through the damp forest. Mamoru limped after him, wishing with all his heart for a cup of tea and clean, dry clothes.

"Fuck," Nagi muttered, stepping back.

Mamoru saw he'd stepped into water, a small stream barely a ten centimeters wide. "So much for your sense of direction," he said.

"I didn't claim to be a water diviner. Anyway, it's running downhill, we want to go downhill –" Nagi paused, looking defeated for a moment, then brightened. "We won't be short of drinking water now. It's important we drink a lot to make up for the lack of food." He set off, following the little stream, and looked defeated once more when it became a small, marshy pool a couple of hundred metres later. "So much for downhill," he muttered. He led Mamoru back along the stream a little. "I saw something – there!"

Mamoru looked at the rocky outcrop with no enthusiasm. Nagi pulled him over to where a dead tree had fallen against it, making a small sheltered spot.

"That's it?" he said. "You want us to spend the night between a fallen log and a rock?"

"We cover the top of the log with branches to make a better roof," Nagi said. "It's already pretty dry, look at the dry leaves under it."

Mamoru stirred them with a foot, listening to them rustle, and trying not to think what sort of insects might have made them their home since they had fallen in the autumn. They did seem to be dry, at least. "How do we get these branches of yours?" he asked.

Nagi looked about and picked a young and slender tree, barely one and half times his height. He glared at it, and it shook itself to pieces, its branches raining down to the ground. For good measure the slim trunk snapped and laid itself beside the branches.

"Working out some frustrations?" Mamoru said.

"Yep. Give me a hand, here."

When they had laid the branches over the fallen tree, and precariously angled the sapling's trunk against it for more branches to be laid over, the shelter began to look as if it would be big enough for two people if they were very friendly. Mamoru obediently pulled up armfuls of vegetation at Nagi's instruction, and covered over the whole thing in another layer. It looked like a child's attempt at a half-remembered survival television show.

"It'll leak if it rains," he said gloomily.

"So hope it doesn't. Sit. We need to keep warm."

"I don't suppose you can start fires with your mind," Mamoru said, collapsing down onto the dry leaves.

"No," Nagi said. "But I can do this." He had a few handfuls of rotten wood already gathered, and now selected two sticks. One stood itself up against the other and began to spin, faster and faster. Mamoru's eyes widened as a small curl of smoke spiralled up from the base, Nagi carefully adding tiny amounts of rotten wood to coax the tiny sparks into flame.

"Wow," Mamoru said. "That's really – that's really impressive."

"I tore a tree in half with my mind, and you find _this_ impressive?" Nagi said. "Austrian Boy Scouts," he said, shrugging.

Mamoru bought it for all of ten seconds, till he saw it was what passed for a joke in Nagi's world.

"You were not a boy scout," he said.

"No," Nagi said. "Schuldig had these books, kid's books all about life in the Wild West. He was sort of obsessed with them, and made me read them. I practiced this sort of thing for a while after that." A vague smile crossed his face, the nearest thing to a real and pleasant one Mamoru had seen. "I had more reason to get obsessed with them, I _was_ a kid." He built up the fire and sat back. "When that catches nicely I'll get water. We can heat it in one of the lunchboxes. It'll be better for keeping us warm than drinking it cold."

"I have some chocolate in my rucksack," Mamoru said, wishing he had something a bit better and less childish.

"I was going to produce them as a surprise so I'd look like I was cleverly well-provisioned, but I'll admit to having some energy bars," Nagi said. "Good. OK, you mind the fire, I'll get water." He dug out his plastic water bottle and headed off, returning quickly.

It was only when they were sipping hot water, and eating some of their meager supplies that Mamoru saw how exhausted Nagi was, his hands shaking as he ate the energy bar in tiny bites, looking as if he wanted to swallow it in one mouthful.

"What you can do, it really takes it out of you, doesn't it?" he said.

"Yeah," Nagi said. "Especially when it's preceded _and_ followed with a cross-country hike."

"You stopped us falling – it was like we flew," Mamoru said. "Now, _that_ was impressive."

"Oh, that," Nagi said dismissively. "That wasn't flying, it was falling with style." He smirked at Mamoru's blank expression. "It's a quote. From a movie. You don't watch American movies?"

"Not many," Mamoru said. Then, feeling that Nagi was in a talkative mood for once, "So – German kid's books, American movies – what's the Irish influence on you?"

"Catholicism," Nagi said so promptly that Mamoru suspected he'd been hoping he'd be asked. He grinned at Mamoru's snort of laughter. "Well, obviously that would have been asking for trouble. My Catholicism is one hundred per cent home grown. The Irish influence was –" he sniggered, like a smutty-minded boy. "It was jokes of a filth you cannot imagine. I mean, _Schuldig_ used to turn pale."

Mamoru laughed, more at the incredulity he belatedly felt at discussing Schwarz so casually than at the thought of dirty jokes. He put more wood on the fire, glad to feel some heat at last.

"Not too much," Nagi said. "We want to make it last, and not to attract attention with it. Or to burn down our shelter."

"I just want warm feet," Mamoru said. "I have dry socks in my pack. Somewhere." He rummaged in his rucksack, and hung his wet socks on the inside of the branches, hoping that some heat, or at least smoke, might dry them by morning. His feet _were_ blistered, he saw.

"Let me see," Nagi said, making him sit back. He rubbed antiseptic cream into the raw spots, covering them carefully with cushioned bandages. Mamoru felt strangely childlike as Nagi rolled the dry socks onto his feet, and patted one ankle. "All done," he said.

"Thank you – how are your feet?"

"I'm fine, all I need is rest. Speaking of which, we should sleep," Nagi said. "Put on an extra sweater, and we'll use the jackets as blankets."

Mamoru looked at the close quarters they'd have to share. "Maybe I should change my trousers," he said, shame-faced. "When we first fell I was afraid, and lost control –"

"Did you really think I'd have let you fall?" Nagi said. "I thought you just got wet going through the trees, like me." He sighed. "Oh, well. It's that material that wicks moisture away from the skin. So if you're dry, I'll forgive you the smell."

"Thanks," Mamoru said, as sarcastically as he could. "I guess I'm dry enough."

He squeezed into the little space, Nagi contorting himself in beside him, and flicking their jackets over their legs and bodies. They lay, still and awkward, beside each other.

"Oh, for God's sake," Nagi muttered, and deliberately moved as close as he could. "If we're going to keep each other warm let's not huddle as far apart as we can. I don't bite." He put an arm over Mamoru's waist to hold him near. It still felt odd and awkward to Mamoru, but slowly he felt warm and he began to relax.

"My feet are still cold," he muttered.

"One way of heating extremities is to hold them in someone else's armpits or groin," Nagi said sleepily. He sounded more awake as he added, "Stick cold feet in my groin and you'll regret it."

"More wisdom from your books?" Mamoru said. "What else did they teach you apart from shelter-building and fire-making?"

"'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'," Nagi murmured.

"You're not at all like I thought you were at first," Mamoru said, wondering if he should ask for an explanation.

"Who is?"

"Can I trust you? Can I, if I don't really know what you're like?"

"Go to sleep, Mamoru."

Mamoru closed his eyes. It seemed almost impossible to sleep, with the strange sounds of the forest, and the cold draughts coming in at him from all around, but when he opened his eyes again it was to the faint grey light of the coming dawn. His face was _freezing_ , though the rest of him was warm enough. Nagi was pressed close, a line of heat all down his side, and it was this, Mamoru realized, that had woken him. Whoever Nagi was dreaming he was with, it was an embarrassingly pleasant dream, making him rock against Mamoru. Though Mamoru tried to inch away Nagi merely snuggled closer, mumbling something incomprehensible. It was easier just to lie there and let Nagi sink deeper into sleep once more, lying loose-limbed and heavy beside him. He felt strangely bereft, wishing he'd had the comfort of a warm, happy dream himself. He sighed, and felt Nagi stir.

"You OK?" Nagi said, more than half asleep.

"Yeah."

"'S cold. You're warm."

Nagi shifted position, causing Mamoru more embarrassment as it became clear Nagi was still feeling the excitement of the dream. "Um," he said, trying to shift away.

"Don't be such a prude," Nagi said, a little more coherently. "I want to stay warm." He underlined his statement by rocking against Mamoru again, rather more deliberately.

"Even when you're asleep, you're a bastard," Mamoru said.

It earned him an actual irritated squint, then Nagi buried his cold face against Mamoru's neck, making him yelp. "So prudish," Nagi muttered, and put a hand right on Mamoru's crotch. Mamoru gasped in surprise, thinking at first it was just a half-asleep embarrassing moment for them both, but then Nagi was stroking him, too deliberately to be anything but awake. He could move away, which would mean leaving the shelter altogether. He could punch Nagi, which would probably mean the shelter coming down on both of them. Or, Mamoru thought, he could accept that he was lost, hungry and unhappy, and that while Nagi had very odd ideas on what made things better, this might be some crazy attempt at comforting him. _Option three_ , Mamoru thought, _Means I don't have to go out into the cold._

He shifted a little, enough to indicate he really was awake and maybe Nagi _might_ possibly think about keeping his hands to himself, but not enough to get out of reach. Nagi determinedly shifted along with him. It _was_ bizarrely comforting, Mamoru thought, and at first oddly non-sexual, just . . . nice. That didn't last long, as his body began telling him the category of "nice" the situation fit into. He gave up pretending he was going to do anything except move round to make things easier for Nagi, and felt Nagi's mouth curl against his neck in a smile. When his hand was guided to Nagi's crotch he didn't resist, and was instead glad to be the first of them to win a soft, bitten-off sound from the other. By the time Nagi was kissing him and clumsily opening his clothes one-handed, Mamoru was beyond much thought other than the urgent need for him to finish the job properly. He came, whimpering into Nagi's kiss, making him chuckle, soft and dark. It would be impolite, Mamoru thought fuzzily, just to fall asleep, so he got a hand into Nagi's clothes to return the favour and scant moments later watched him try his best to stay quiet, breath hissing through gritted teeth.

It was truly comfortable, lying warm and cuddled up with Nagi as the light slowly increased, but all too soon Mamoru was properly awake and worrying how embarrassing it was that they now both knew what the other sounded like during sex. It was more embarrassing still when Nagi propped himself up on an elbow, silent and grave, looking down at Mamoru's face. Then he leant down and kissed him, gently and chastely.

"All right," Nagi said, sitting up. "We should get moving."

It was a relief to know they weren't going to talk about it, and a greater relief when they crawled out and turned aside from each other to clean themselves up and to go to the toilet, giving each other the privacy of a turned back.

"Go get some water," Nagi said, handing him the water bottles. "Straight that way, then come right back. I'll get the fire up again."

"Suppose I get lost on the way back?" Mamoru said lightly.

"I'll sing rousing camping songs. The hordes of fleeing animals will give you a clue as to where I am."

"You're a very strange person, Naoe Nagi," Mamoru said.

Nagi pointed through the trees. "That way. Don't take long."

By the time he came back, the embers of the previous night's fire had been coaxed back into life. He watched Nagi heat water, and accepted his share gratefully, sipping at it and reveling in the heat. Nagi scrupulously divided their last energy bar and few squares of chocolate, and they breakfasted slowly. Then, their rucksacks repacked and water bottles refilled, they started out.

"Are your feet doing all right?" Nagi said.

"They'll have to. Are you sure this is the right way?"

"Yes."

"Because in your kid's books you learnt that moss grows on the west side of trees and grass of a certain type always points downhill?"

Nagi looked at him in amusement. "I can't believe you didn't see me checking the compass," he said, and strode off. "Anyway, it's the north side of trees," he added.

Mamoru followed him, smiling.

 

* * *

 

"We're going to have to spend another night in the open, aren't we?" Mamoru said. He sat on the ground, his back against a tree, trying to ignore the pain in his feet. He was dreadfully afraid of what he'd see when he took the boots off.

"I hope not," Nagi said. "I want a hot bath and hot food. Do you think you can walk on? We need to try to get further down."

"Sure," Mamoru said, levering himself upright. "Lead on."

"I could carry you for a while, but with no food I'll get tired."

"It's all right," Mamoru said. "Anyway, you're like some sort of indestructible dynamo, the lack of an energy bar didn't stop you in Masafumi's mansion." It was a tactless thing to say, he decided, given the look he got, but at least the irritation seemed more natural on Nagi's face than the worry.

"Yeah?" Nagi said. "What you didn't see was that I slept for fifty hours straight after that, then I ate an entire large chicken, six bowls of rice, some soggy leftover tempura and a plate of sandwiches the others had unwisely left unguarded. Then, having taken the edge off my appetite, I ferreted out all the chocolate and ice cream I could find."

"Oh," Mamoru said, blinking. He wished he'd given Nagi his half of the last energy bar.

"Then," Nagi said ruminatively, "I threw up. It was pretty gross." His sidelong glance at Mamoru was sly. "I believe you're laughing at my pain."

"Only a bit," Mamoru said. "How much of that am I supposed to believe?"

"Whatever you like," Nagi said. "It'll be more entertaining for you that way. Now, if I'm right we head _this_ way –"

"And if you're wrong?"

"I suppose it's possible one of us might know how to fish, and we could have sashimi for supper."

"Let's hope you're not wrong," Mamoru said.

By late afternoon he felt could go no further, and sank miserably to the ground. The last hour had cost him more than he wanted to admit, and every step felt like he was walking on bare bone. They really had reached a very pretty area, he thought numbly. It would have been nice to come here on the hiking tour. He looked over to his right, seeing a small pond ringed with trees, and wondered if they were desperate enough to actually try to catch fish. Nagi stood over him, giving him time to catch his breath.

"I really could carry you," he said.

"You're already tired, and we need one of us to be able to do something if the wrong people find us," Mamoru said.

"Yeah," Nagi said, and Mamoru saw the exhaustion clear on his face before he hid it again. He hadn't been walking slower and slower just for Mamoru's sake, that was clear. "Do you want me to take a look at your feet?"

"Might be better not to," Mamoru said. "I'm not so sure I could get the boots on again afterwards."

Nagi hunkered down, putting a hand on Mamoru's ankle carefully. "I don't know if ibuprofen will help – I suppose it can't hurt. There were people in Eszett who could heal with a touch – me, I'm mainly good for tearing things apart." He smiled, tired and sick-looking. "But don't worry, we'll be all right. At least we're a lot further down. It should be easier to find shelter and – fucking _hell!_ " He leapt to his feet in obvious fright.

"What?" Mamoru said, looking up, sure he'd see a helicopter. Why hadn't he brought a _gun?_

Nagi raised a hand calmingly, and stood there, head bowed for a moment. "It's OK," he said. He reached into a back pocket and pulled out Mamoru's phone. "It's set on vibrate," he said, and glared at it as if he was thinking of pulverizing it. "There's a signal. _Finally_. And you seem to have a full inbox, your grandfather has been trying to reach you."

"How quickly can the emergency services reach us?" Mamoru said eagerly.

Nagi shook his head. "I don't want people we don't know coming out to us," he said. "It'll take a bit longer, but we should contact Kritiker. I'll insist we get sent people we know."

"You're sure they weren't the ones trying to kill us?"

Nagi looked down at him. "I'm sure I won't let anyone kill you," he said. "Trust me?"

Mamoru looked at him, and thought of his unpleasant sense of humour – the fact that he had a sense of humour at all – his gentleness as he had bandaged Mamoru's feet, the terrifying fall and how tightly Nagi had held on, and the look on his face before they had finally got up that morning. "Yeah," he said. "I do."

"All right, then," Nagi said, and walked off a little till he got a better signal.

When he came back he helped Mamoru to a more comfortable place to sit, and sank down beside him, a solid support by his side. "Now we wait," he said.

It was comfortable enough, Mamoru thought, and Nagi didn't mind when he leant against him more heavily. "It was pretty funny, you jumping up like that," he said.

"Huh," Nagi said, but sniggered. "Here I am, saving your life, and you laugh at me." He relaxed, sighing as he stretched out his legs. "The things I put up with."

They sat in silence for a while, all the tension of the last two days draining out of them. Mamoru suspected that neither of them would want to go hiking for some considerable time.

"You really ate a whole chicken?" he said, watching the shadows stretch and lengthen.

"Yeah. This time you can share some, though."

"Sounds nice. But we get hot, fresh-made tempura."

"Damn, yes."

"Nagi? Thank you. For everything."

"You won't be saying that when I eat your tempura," Nagi said lightly. "Rest, Mamoru. You're safe with me, you know that."

"Yes," Mamoru said, and was glad when Nagi put an arm around him. He closed his eyes and found it easy to begin to drift. _I_ do _trust you_ , he wanted to say. _I really do_ , but it was far too much trouble to wake up.

He'd say it to Nagi later.


End file.
